Kids love to travel

***I’m out of town and have limited access to my computer, but I wanted to make sure I still had some posts in the A-Z challenge. I’m keeping these simple until I come back. I’m going to expand on these later, but I’d love your thoughts and opinions in the meantime. Thanks for stopping by, and if you’re also participating in the challenge let me know and I’ll be around to check our your blog in less than a week.***

When planning your next big, or small, getaway, remember this – kids love to travel.

It’s their natural instinct to be curious about the world around them. Help foster that curiosity.

Yes, there will be times they are bored – that’s ok.

The benefits of traveling with your kids, learning about new cultures and spending time as a family make the enclosed space of flying with strangers, packing and unpacking, and dealing with food preferences worth it.

(Side note: I’ve had the Travel Turtle site since 2007. I took a break from it, moved to Germany, and had kids. In April 2013, on a trip to Prague, I decided to start writing about family travel. My first plan was to start a new site and call it Kids Love to Travel, but I decided to just restructure Travel Turtle.)

Yes kids by nature are curious, but I see too many parents who don’t helped their children with the chaos that is travel. They don’t tell them what to expect so they’re not afraid. I remember how our DD loved to travel with us when she was small. She asked lots of questions, and we talked alot about where we were going, what we would see, and what was expected…like going through security at the airports, the need to wait, the need to stand in lines, the possibility you couldn’t jump up and get to the bathroom when you wanted to etc. I see too many people now days who don’t seem to do that, as a result the kids are afraid, they cry, they won’t listen or mind their parents. Some even act like they think the flight attendance are their personal baby sitters. Worst though was a few flights ago, when parents sat their kids in coach….and enjoyed their own time in first class. The kids had no adult supervision…everyone on board was ready to string the parents up. Other adults in coach purchased drinks and snacks for the kids and tried to help the kids. I actually didn’t understand why the flight attendance permitted that….seems that should have said something to the offending parents. Do travel with kids, they will grow up to be enlighten adults, and seeing things through they eyes can teach adults a thing or two. Here through A-Z..happy travels.

Orlando used to be my home airport. That means that most of my flights had lots of families going to or coming from Disney. In all that time, I never experienced any prolonged “kids/parents” behaving badly on flights. The worst was usually a baby crying at take-off or landing, but with all the noise from the plane it’s hard to notice unless they’re sitting next to you. Most of the stories I’ve heard are things I’ve read online. I think most families who travel with young kids, really want it to be a smooth experience. Talking to the kids about it beforehand definitely helps.

Fortunately, though, travelling with kids doesn’t have to just mean flying with them. It’s about doing what your family is comfortable with. It could be a round-the-world trip for years at a time, or a roadtrip, or a bike trip. Anything that allows the kids to explore something that’s new to them. And since they’re so young, almost everything is new to them!

I’m a great advocate of travelling with kids! We used to take our girls away quite often and they have benefited enormously from it. We started with ski trips and added places on to this making sure there was something for everyone. You really have to plan trips around them and not the reverse with them tagging along on ‘your’ trip! Hope you’re having fun in London!